Live from SFMOMA

I am waiting for another Werner Herzog movie. I don't even know the name of it but I am trying to see all the Herzog movies which are being shown in conjunction with the Kiefer show. The choice of Herzog was all wrong for Kiefer. A Fassbinder retrospective would have been better. Actually, it should have been Wim Wender. Or, better still, a careful selection of German filmmakers. Herzog bores me, really, but I can't to to Kiefer movies so I keep coming, waiting for something to be revealed.

But I digress.

I opened my laptop to write about something that just happened in the museum. I was walking through the Kiefer show and came upon a tour lead (sp?) by a museum docent (I assume). I stopped to listen to her. Aghast, I listened to her talk about how Kiefer is widely regarded as a very dark artist, that his work is all about the German legacy of Hitler and there is little beauty in his work. From a museum docent?! Presumably, the museum trained her,presenting her with the museum curator's view of Kiefer. It is now an hour later and I am still sputtering inwardly.

Kiefer about darkness?! No, no, no, he is about beholding the everpresent light in the darkness, which is very beautiful.

Then this docent said "Kiefer has said he does not understand beauty. I just read a quote about beauty that I will leave you with since I can't leave you with Kiefer's thoughts on beauty. "Beauty is something that grabs the attention, touches the spirit and confuses everything."

I asked her to cite the author. She didn't remember who said it. Then I said "Kiefer has grabbed my attention, touched my spirit and left me less confused."

I hope this Herzog movie is better than the one I saw last Saturday.

On a bright note, I got to watch the Phil Collins movie all the way through. I am in love with all peoples. Everyone is so tender, vulnerable, fragile and striving towards light. I kept imagining that myself getting up in the darkened gallery where the Collins' film runs in a continuous loop and dancing with the British rock music. I kept wishing I had a friend with me who would get up and dance with me. There is absolutely no reason for people to note dance in there. I'll tell you who I really wanted to dance with: my daughter around age ten.